The Grammys have often been questioned and criticized, particularly with regard to its treatment of Hip Hop.
Whether often electing not to televise awards for Hip Hop artists, or recognizing when some of the culture’s legends have passed, there is no doubt that there has been a fair share of friction.
Steve Stoute, advertising and record executive, recently took out a full page ad in the New York Times to assert his thoughts on the matter, including the more global concern that the Grammy Awards are out of touch.
“Over the course of my 20-year history as an executive in the music business and as the owner of a firm that specializes in in-culture advertising, I have come to the conclusion that the Grammy Awards have clearly lost touch with contemporary popular culture,” reads the introduction. “My being a music fan has left me with an even greater and deeper sense of dismay — so much so that I feel compelled to write this letter. Where I think that the Grammys fail stems from two key sources: (1) over-zealousness to produce a popular show that is at odds with its own system of voting and (2) fundamental disrespect of cultural shifts as being viable and artistic.”
Stoute pointed to some of the more shocking losses in Hip Hop Grammy history – Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP failing to garner “Album of the Year” honors in 2001, and Kanye West’s Graduation failing to do the same in 2008 – as examples of his stance.
“As an institution that celebrates artistic works of musicians, singers, songwriters, producers and technical specialists, we have come to expect that the Grammys upholds all of the values that reflect the very best in music that is born from our culture. Unfortunately, the awards show has become a series of hypocrisies and contradictions, leaving me to question why any contemporary popular artist would even participate. How is it possible that in 2001 The Marshall Mathers LP — an album by Eminem that ushered in the Bob Dylan of our time — was beaten out by Steely Dan (no disrespect) for Album Of The Year? While we cannot solely utilize album sales as the barometer, this was certainly not the case. Not only is Eminem the best-selling artist of the last decade, but The Marshall Mathers LP was a critical and commercial success that sold over 10 million albums in the United States (19 million worldwide), while Steely Dan sold less than 10% of that amount and came and went as quietly as a church mouse. Or consider even that in 2008 at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, after going into the night as the most-nominated artist, Kanye West’s Graduation was beaten out for Album Of The Year by Herbie Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters. (This was the first time in 43 years that a jazz album won this category.) While there is no doubt in my mind of the artistic talents of Steely Dan or Herbie Hancock, we must acknowledge the massive cultural impact of Eminem and Kanye West and how their music is shaping, influencing and defining the voice of a generation. It is this same cultural impact that acknowledged the commercial and critical success of Michael Jackson’s Thriller in 1984.
“Just so that I’m not showing partiality to hip-hop artists (although it would be an entirely different letter as to how hip-hop music has been totally diminished as an art form by this organization), how is it that Justin Bieber, an artist that defines what it means to be a modern artist, did not win Best New Artist? Again, his cultural impact and success are even more quantifiable if you factor in his YouTube and Vevo viewership — the fact that he was a talent born entirely of the digital age whose story was crafted in the most humble method of being “discovered” purely for his singing ability (and it should be noted that Justin Bieber plays piano and guitar, as evidenced on his early viral videos).
“So while these very artists that the public acknowledges as being worthy of their money and fandom are snubbed year after year at the Grammys, the awards show has absolutely no qualms in inviting these same artists to perform. At first I thought that you were not paying attention to the fact that the mental complexion of the world is becoming tanned, that multiculturalism and poly-ethnicity are driving new meaning as to what is culturally relevant. Interesting that the Grammys understands cultural relevance when it comes to using Eminem’s, Kanye West’s or Justin Bieber’s name in the billing to ensure viewership and to deliver the all-too-important ratings for its advertisers.
“What truly inspired the writing of this letter was that this most recent show fed my suspicions. As the show was coming to a close and just prior to presenting the award for Album Of The Year, the band Arcade Fire performed ‘Month of May’ — only to… surprise… win the category and, in a moment of sheer coincidence, happened to be prepared to perform ‘Ready to Start.’
“Does the Grammys intentionally use artists for their celebrity, popularity and cultural appeal when they already know the winners and then program a show against this expectation? Meanwhile the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences hides behind the “peer” voting system to escape culpability for not even rethinking its approach.
“And I imagine that next year there will be another televised super-close-up of an astonished front-runner as they come to the realization before a national audience… that he or she was used.
“You are being called to task at this very moment, NARAS.
“And to all of the artists that attend the Grammys: Stop accepting the invitation to be the upset of the year and demand that this body upholds its mission for advocacy and support of artistry as culture evolves.
“Demand that they change this system and truly reflect and truly acknowledge your art.
Steve Stoute”
This dude bought an entire page of the new york times just to bitch about justin Bieber not winning best new artist? You know you can save a fuck-ton of money if you do the same thing with a Facebook or twitter status update
new york times or facebook/twitter. which one will look more professional and get better support you fuckbag. besides, once it gets written into the new york times it will make its way to facebook thus further proving your stupidity. smooth move slick.
neither will get results douchebag thats the point he was trying to make. your just as big a dumbass as this stoute clown. fucking asshole.
neither will get results douchebag thats the point he was trying to make. your just as big a dumbass as this stoute clown.
neither will get results douchebag thats the point he was trying to make.
ur all idiots no one cares about ur opinion comments section on articles are fuckin pointless
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If the NARAS won’t play fair with the Grammy’s then it’s time for another awards show, but it also must include all genres. The “Vibes”. Just think about it. The selection could be made from a committee consisting members from the music magazines. Or something like that.
You know this whole Grammy business is total crap when rap albums like Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linkx II, Clipse’s ‘Til the Casket Drops, and
Curren$y’s Pilot Talk aren’t being nominated while successful, yet mediocre and badly-reviewed albums from people like Drake get the nomination.
you really think pilot talk should have been nominated for a grammy? thats pretty funny and im a curren$y fan
this guys is wasting his money .
1. Em is not the Bob Dylan of hip hop. Nas and Lauryn Hill are the Bob Dylans of hip hop and Lauryn did WIN Album of the Yr
Outkast also won b/c their abums were better than Kanye em’s … suck it up.
Plenty of pop artists win grammy awards. Taylor Swift, Kanye, Jay-z, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Weezy, Will Smith, and Lady Gaga have are all grammy winners but not even though they didn’t deserve most of them. Lots of POP acts that sell CDs win grammys!
shut the fuck up,outkast album better?,u most be a fool.
Tell me if jay-z,kanye or Eminem put out an album like that yall will be the first to say they went pop,
that album isn’t hip hop,it’s pure shit,it’s for little girls……
Singing ”HEY YA” and shit….and luaren hill album isn’t hip hop either…..it’s more of singing.
Em’s the bob dylan of hiphop not lauryn racist fuckin hill u dumb cunt
If you bought the Marshall Mathers LP or Graduation, nigga kill yo self. Those albums are straight trash filled with satanic rituals and illuminati worship like what you hear on a Nas CD. Justin Bieber is real talent that nigga is what music should sound like. Justin Bieber will win more grammys than Lupe Fiasco, Nas, and J. Cole combined.
It’s Gucci Time!
yo dude serious!? you said whoever bought marshall matters LP ( the best Em album EVER!!) should kill them self? and then you fihish with gucci time?
haha ur funny dude, brrrr
FAG!!
YOU MUST BE ON CRACK OR SOMETHING!
Troll
Yeah the Gucci troll is fun!…..Hey SuperGucciRap, how may Grammys will Gucci win during his illustrious rap career?……
this cat going back 12 years to complain about the most celebrated white boy in music, aint his overrated ass been kissed enough?
Honestly, who cares? I don’t understand why we lend so much credence to the Grammys anyway. Not only are their criteria inconsistent but they don’t understand Hip Hop. For example, ‘The Carter III’ won over Lupe’s ‘The Cool’ a couple years ago. If they’re basing it off of popularity, then yes The Carter should have won. But if they’re basing it off of content and innovation then The Cool should have gotten that nod. The Grammys are so inconsistent that it’s laughable.
Don’t let them fool you into thinking they’re the end-all-be-all of music.
Cosign on when C3 won instead of The Cool. C3 was the worst album out of those that were nominated that year and seeing it win made me smh in disgust. As soon as that happened, my views on the Grammys changed forever.
Honestly the Grammys do treat hip hop unfairly, however there are times when people should stop and think for a moment.
For starters as it pertains to the 53rd Grammys Arcade Fire should have won Album of the Year.
Recovery – by most hip hop fans it wasn’t even considered the best in it’s genre, but because it’s eminem it made it
The Fame Monster and Teenage Dream – both of these could be by the same person if you’d never heard them before. Both sounds like every other pop album of the last 4 years.
Need You Now – again, cookie cutter country music.
Arcade Fire is an indie band that won being themselves, and that’s actually a step in the right direction.
Ironically some ppl fail to see how dumb it is to cry about artists not winning for music that was forced down our throats all year. Just because you heard Love the Way You Lie 20 times everyday doesn’t make it the best 2010 had to offer.
well said buddy
fully agree
but if being yourself doesn’t create good music, then why win? Of the nominees (which were crappy to begin with), Em was the most deserving this year.
MMLP not winning in 2001 was a scandal.
@ fool killer
STFU There are lots of rap albums that have a lot of singing. The Miseducation was VERY hip hop.
BTW – please don’t mention Jay Z on the same post as those other artists.
Em, Nas, Lauryn, Kanye = substance
Jay Z = dumbed down music for the billboard charts
Mr. Stout there are lots of artists that can do what your friend HOV does and make an impact on the billboard charts but they chose not to dumb down their music for mass consumption.
If anything there are too many pop artits winning grammys .
Why did Lil Wayne beat out Nas for rap album of the yr a couple of yrs ago? Because Wayne is a pop rapper.
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All I can say is fuck Steely Dan.
Fuck U Steely Dan is the shit…They didn’t vote for themselves…listening to Black Cow
Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs was dope.. it was my #2 album of 2010 after Kanye’s
OUCH! truth. and steely dan is a good band 🙂 a bit old to win over eminem at that point tho
When i asked around, no one even heard of arcade fire! i was amazed that recovery did not win. it was a disappointing night!
and white people have never heard of Big Sean or Curren$y. What’s your point?
If you never heard of Arcade Fire, then you need to up your education on new artists. Because they’ve been out since 2003.
angsty teens listen to Arcade Fire. Their music is not good, grammy-worthy music.
Yo anonymous you’re a dickhead racist. I’m white and have both of curren$y’s pilot talk albums and I have several of big sean’s mixtapes including finally famous 1 and 2.
Eminem got robbed. He sold the most album and the Grammys used Eminem to sell the show and give it great ratings. The public picked Eminem and the Grammys picked somebody else.
If you start telling the masses (the fans) that bought Eminem’s CD that his CD isn’t music then don’t use him to sale the Grammys to the masses (his fans) and what is the difference in that and just saying” I decide myself what good music is and who will win.
ALL THE GRAMMYS DID WAS TRY AND MAKE STARS OUT OF NOBODIES BY GIVING THEM THE AWARD OVER MORE DESERVING CANDIDATES. INSTEAD OF REWARDING THE BEST ARTIST OF 2010 THEY JUST MADE ARCADE FAMOUS BY GIVING THEM THE AWARDS OVER 2010’s REAL SHINING STARS!!! ………….AWARD SHOW/ARCADE PROMOTIONS!!!
Steve Stout is an idiot!!! No one mentioned the fact that the Roots swept the R&B category, yet I did’nt see them except one award. Not to mention the fact that they should have won best Hip-hop album or maybe even best album PERIOD!!! EM’s album was good, but no where near the musical content of “How I Got Over” Fuck the Grammys!!! It’s obvioulsly is not about the Album quality.
The Grammy been this way Nfor years. I first realized this when wayne won rap album of the year against the cool, american gangster, paper trail, and N.I.G.G.E.R.
every single one of those albums were better than the carter 3, hands down. but since wayne sold that milli in one week and became widely popular, he got the vote. the roots got robbed this year too.. lol
nevertheless, stoute is correct. outside of the categories that affect hip hop and r and b directly, most artists that produced urban music will not win, especially the black ones.
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This dude is a gatekeeper of the music industry. What is his motive behind comparing Eminem to Bob Dylan? LOL. Why give further validity to an award show based off of the opinions of a small group of biased people unless you are salty that the artists yourpersonally support didn’t win. You also had the means to create your own show and chose not to. A grown man(Black at that) kissing the a** of corporate america, begging for a handout, is a sad sight to see…He is no champion of musical integrity. He is merely a bitter gatekeeper upset that his personal interests weren’t met when he has had the opportunity to create an alternative and failed to do so. Man up…
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Couldnt agree more… you know its bad when the group that wins album of the year, hasnt been heard of by anyone i know.. hey maybe i dont listen to that type of music but if these dudes are worthy of winning a grammy (especially for album of the year) you would think one that thoroughly enjoys music would recognize the name at least… thats a problem.
O U Mad
Honestly I think the biggest thing the Grammys did wrong was not pay respect to Guru. At the end of the day I could care less who wins those awards but if an artist passes away that has had a huge impact on a music genre, then they should be honored and recognized for their work.
I dont get why people are mad they didnt mention guru. I mean in my oppinion if you ur into any of his work then you probably dont even watch the grammys lol besides to me it’s like I know how important guru was to hiphop and I sure as hell dont need a hiphop hating award show to tell me how influential he was but to me this whole article is just one big MEHHHHH who the fuck cares the day hiphop becomes a staple to the grammys is when hiphop will really die because you cant get much more commercial then that, which from this dudes areguements it sure he only cares about sales and online views aka cultural impact..really justin biebier impacted our culture? or did he just have a whole shit load of online views..
Distance reletives by Nas and Damean suppose to win Album of the year .It is the most creatively produce album and most creative writings by Nas
Could’nt agree more my man that was an excellent album. Steve Stoute is completely right!
First of Steve Stoute F*** You and second F*** You.It is because of people like yourself who have pimped and sold this thing we call hip hop.That is the reason why the Grammys have no respect for hip hop or the hip hop culture to be exact.When you look at todays hip hop and r&b it is all a gimmick you have artist who don’t even care about lyrics how do you be a rapper and not care about lyrics.But this is todays hip hop and r&b and you expect them to take hip hop and r&b serious.I guarantee that if you were to ask taylor swift about the history of country music she will tell you,she has respect for the music and culture.Unlike in hip hop and r&b we chose to promote negativity and ignorance over substance and you don’t understand why the grammys don’t respect hip hop and r&b really?They look at hip hop as a joke and if you don’t respect the culture then how do you expect somebody else to.
And BOOM goes the dynamite!!!
Steve is making very valid points, on all fronts. Of course, he probably is a tad biased, leaning toward the Hip-Hop genre — but valid none the less, even if just from a cultural impact perspective.
Now that is how you cut somebody down; not with disorganized hate mail but with a valid and logical argument. I agree completely with Steve Stout on this and everyone involved should take notice and take the Grammy’s system of hypocrisy and favoritism down.
Fuck off steve stout. all you seem to be implying is the most popular albums should win. you’re wrong the best album should win, which is almost never the most popular ones. How could have graduation have won in 2008? It’s kanyes weakest proformace to date.
Graduation was Kanye’s weakest performance to date? lmao. Graduation was a hell of a lot betterthan both the 808s album and the twisted fantasy album (which both sucked).
^^^ yup, every one seemed to jump on the bandwaon that was dark Twisted…. That was a weak album to be honest with you. and im a kanye fan. Graduation is right behind Late registration as kanyes best…if we’re just talking production than that goes to Commons Be. ..CLASSIC!
You didn’t understand the article, reread it. Graduation was a sick album, how in the hell is it his weakest performance? I personally think graduation and Late Registration are his two best
While In question Steve Stoute’s intentions whether we like it or not this man helped many artists get exposure and become financially secure through endorsements and if it weren’t for people like him Nas,Hov,Diddy,T.I etc wouldn’t be in the bracket they are(well Nas not really cause he married a chicken head and she bled him dry)Fact is the only times The Roots for the amount of times they have been nominated ever won was when the song featured an R&B artist(Erykah Badu-John Legend)and they have been out since 1993…The Grammy’s have always used Hip Hop as a way to snag a younger audience but since we act like they are doing us a favor by even nominating us we have the same result every year..Jay Z boycotted them for the same reason.The rap category wasn’t even televised for the longest!!!they announced the winner before the show..Arcade fire winning was wrong and although their album in 09 was really good and deserved to win this album they won the Grammy for did not the reason they did it is because rock had its biggest decline in sales ever this year and they did it to jump start digital sales…Its all a scam and I commend artists and executives for boycotting that garbage until the academy realizes just how vital Hip Hop is to sales and the culture that immerses itself in it…
oh P.S Not acknowledging the legendary Keith”Guru”Elam at the Grammy’s was a travesty..That will never be forgotten..They have honored one hit wonders for less…That man deserved some recognition for his life’s work..
This fuckin faggit FAILS as soon as he mentions Justin fuckin Beiber. I thought this might be some great letter naming some true classics of hip-hop that didnt win, but no he mentioned Eminem (dope album though) and Kanye, two of the biggest hip-hop in the last decade.
Basically if Steve Stout was in charge if the grammys, it would be EXACTLY the same except contain more commercial hip-hop. If he had wrote about classic underground hip-hop albums, the non-mention of Guru etc it would be worth someting, but otherwise this letter if a fuckin waste of time.
The grammys is all about fuckin sales, and Steve Stout is complaining about two albums and one utter fuckin faggit travesty of the music business who didnt win and gives the reason of having sold so much as why he thinks they should have one!
This has nothing to do with hip-hop, just his favorite commercial act that he thinks should have won. Fuck off.
Durag,
What Steve Stoute is saying is that these people have had a great impact on on contemporary music in today’s society. Trust and believe, I am the first one to advocate for underground hip hop music, but that is exactly why it is called underground. If it were mainstream, then it would take away from its appeal. Underground rappers aren’t looking for grammys, they make music for the love of it. But Mr. Stoute’s point is that these artists, Justin Beiber, Em, and Kanye, have all had impacts in not only music but also on culture. While I am not a Justin Beiber fan, he has had a major impact on the music scene and he isn’t your typical pop artist. He knows music and works to build his craft. Esperanza is a great artist however she has had 3 albums before. She isn’t knew. The point of this article is to tell the Grammy’s to look at the bigger picture of how music affects society i.e. contemporary. So please don’t attack Mr. Stoute with such a ridiculous remark. Underground rappers have their place and wouldn’t ever be honored at a grammy ceremony because 80 percent of society doesn’t know them.
Dasacks understood the article, Durag didn’t.
yeah what lolqq said….
Actually Durag understood the article and IMHO the rest of you didn’t. And personally my feeling on the “underground” is the same as Royce Da 5’9″ said: “FUCK the underground/ I rhyme for them fly motherfuckers that’s up, that ain’t tryin to dumb it down”.
I agree with what Steve Stoute is saying in regards to cultural impact. The Grammys only ask these people to perform in order to get viewers. Now the only time that hip hop won album of the year was last year with Lil Wayne’s “Carter 3” album. Plus, they didn’t even acknowledge Guru in the R.I.P. category. The Grammys is pretty much a waste of 3 hours on TV if you ask me. The one upside to the show for me is that I was introduced to other artists that I have never heard of before and it sparks my interest in them. So ehh…you win some, you lose some I guess.
DaSacksrealest,
I understand what he is saying, but he only used examples of commercial artists who have an impact on music. While i dont dispute the huge impact Em and Kayne have made and the great albums they have released, since when have awards ceremonies been about impact?
I thought music awards were about the best music, plain and simple? I do agree that the grammys only pick aspects of hip-hop that fits in with their criteria and they need to open their fuckin eyes, not only to hip-hop but other forms of music where great music is been released, but is been shunned in favour of someone who sold more copies.
Shouldnt ‘best album’ be awarded to the best album musically, rather than to what has sold most and what has made a bigger impact? Soulja Boy has made a huge impact, does that mean his albums are better than The Roots for example?
The way Steve Stout was talking, the impact and sales of albums are whats most important when that is the same fuckin problem with the grammys in the first place.
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The Grammys is a joke and a who can please white people the most award. Prime example Coolio has a Grammy however Tupac doesnt. You tell me that makes sense. The only person of color to even receive and award on stage this year was Espirenza Spaulding (spelling). Im not yelling racism, but i do wonder how a mostly white academy can choose awards for music they arent really in tune with. It would be like me choosing best country album. It just doesnt work. However fan voting wouldnt work either. I dont know the solution.
Don’t make this racial. Just because you’re black doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy country. Same goes for white people and hip hop.
righteous bitch ass nuccca. although i dont like either of those artists, it will pretty much be always a good thing when an unrecognized talent is brought out to light like that. as long as its not forced and the person has done something really great to earn the reward. but yeah, the article was misleading i didnt know it was the ravings of a fool. havent both kanye and em won enough grammys (like this year and shit) to even that shit out. not to say they didnt deserve them for those albums though….
fuck bieber anyone know who i can pay to take a baseball bat to that kids head?
Steve Stoute is so fucking stupid! what about all the indie/underground music Hip Hop artist that are making significantly better music art form than that stupid Justin Bieber? What about Nujabes, Eyedea, Guru and J Dilla who have died for this culture? I can’t believe that the music industry has become a monster using this douche bag and the Grammy to create publicity stunt and continue to make more popularity contest award show.
This is utterly depressing to hear a stupid ass wipe that has absolute no knowledge toward Hip Hop as a culture. This is a sad time.
I think the point Steve is trying to make is that it’s hypocritical to have all these mainstream artist perform and then consistently give awards to other people…I’m glad Justin Bieber didn’t win, but its a fair point…
Justin Bieber and Drake both got what they deserved. They got the wind knocked right out from under them and hopefully they know now that’s gonna take more than popularity to win them an award. Don’t ever believe your own hype just because they put you out there like you are on top. Just because people have enormous support for you that doesn’t mean you are gonna win yourself a Grammy.
Come on now Take lets be real.
Sales dont mean shit to me, and im nowhere near a fan of bieber but bieber and drake had the biggest year out of all that were nominated. But im not even gonna use that as my point. Heres what pisses me off about spaulding winning:
She wasnt even nominated in her OWN CATEGORY. NOT ONCE. Shes a jazz artist but not once was she nominated in her OWN CATEGORY yet we’re supposed to believe that she was good enough to win best new artist? gtfoh!
I know, but whats the point of having an award show of whose the best artist if most of the music on the show is all style with absolute no substance? and is just a mother f**** popularity show contest on who gets the most money and b*tch*s out of their assess, so really whats really the purpose of having this show anyway?
Am sorry, but the more I hear this stuff, the more it depresses me about how society is turning into a glorify obsession with greed, fame and stupidity.
Who gives a shit, really? If the Grammys hate hip-hop (which they don’t) then the Grammys hate hip-hop. Make another awards show of your own if you’re fed up with it, or maybe just make your own decisions and not care whether some big organization backs them up for you. Besides, Em & ‘Ye got good enough rewards in terms of just album sales and overall critical appraisal for those Marshall Mathers and Graduation LPs.
I agree 100% with Steve Stoute. Props to him for actually coming up and saying something about it. How is Arcade Fire going to win album of the year? How is Esperanza Spalding going to win best new artist? The Grammys are a joke and no way will I be watching them next year.
esperanza won b/c she is the most talented artist if this generation in any genre. She is on of those RARE musicians because she’s not just good but she great at everything. She’s a BEAST on the bass , she’s a better lyricist/ poet than your fav rapper, she’s a composer, and she plays several instruments. She’s extraordinary. Check her out playing for the Obamas
How can anyone from any music background tke the Grammys seriously. Katy Perry for album of the year, REALLY???
You stole my thunder. They use the most popular entertaineÂrs for viewershipÂ, while secretly labeling their art as “not good music”. It is snobbery and greed at its finest.
The Oscars had the same problem. They nominated movies that no one saw in theaters, and fell asleep watching the DVD, because it won an Oscar from those “who really knew good movies”. And they wondered while viewership of the Oscars was in decline. They tried to fix this by expanding the best picture category to 10 movies. This year, however, the two front runners at least made money at the box office.
at the end of the day the grammys was never in favor of hip hop the grammys was always for the crackers lol fuck a grammy award black people fight too hard to be accepted by these crackers i give a rat ass about them thats why the music is garbage cause everyone trying to win a grammy for that bullshit they doing including kanye west
What are ya the black version of the KKK?
“the crackers”
racist much?
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I fucked that bitch you are with in the ass about 7 or 8 months ago.
Not only was she a lousy fuck, she left a small amount of shit on my dick! Grossed me out for days!
I thought Method Man already told you guys years ago – “FUCK THE GRAMMYS!!!” …NOW DIDN’T METH SAY THAT? DIDN’T HE SAY THAT? I BELIEVE HE SAID THAT RIGHT? BUT NOBODY LISTENS OR WANTED TO LISTEN WHEN HE SAID IT SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? THIS IS WHAT THE GRAMMYS ARE AND WHAT THEY DO…NAS – Untitled aka THE N.I.G.G.E.R. album,Q-Tip – The Renaissance album ,Mos Def – Estatic album all got NO GRAMMYS! Why didn’t Steve Stoute mention that? Q-Tip and NAS who have been doing Hip-Hip from the start of the early 90’s all the way up til now did not win any Grammys from the last year and the year before last when they should have won. I COULD CARE LESS FOR THE GRAMMYS BECAUSE IT’S THE SAME STORY EVERY YEAR AND NOTHING CHANGES. NOTHING IS BEING DONE TO CHANGE IT. THE GRAMMY COMMITTEE STAY ON THEIR BULLSHIT AND THEY DON’T LISTEN TO THE ENTIRETY OF HIP-HOP OF WHAT’S GOING ON. THEY DON’T LISTEN TO CORMEGA’S NEW ALBUM,THEY DON’T LISTEN TO ROC MARCIANO,THEY DON’T LISTEN TO J.COLE,THEY DON’T LISTEN TO SLAUGHTERHOUSE,THEY DON’T LISTEN TO JOELL ORTIZ,THEY DON’T LISTEN TO MADLIB,THEY DON’T LISTEN TO M.O.P.,THEY DON’T LISTEN TO THE LOX,THEY DON’T LISTEN TO GANGSTARR,THEY DON’T LISTEN TO SAIGON,THEY DON’T LISTEN TO G.DEP,THEY DON’T LISTEN TO DJ PREMIER’S YEAR ROUND RECORDS ROSTER…THE GRAMMY’S DON’T LISTEN TO ANY OF THAT OR ANY INDEPENDENT ALBUM. BUT YET THE GRAMMY’S HAD THE NERVE TO GIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR TO AN INDEPENDENT ROCK ‘N ROLL GROUP NAMED “Arcade Fire”…BUT THE GRAMMY’S WON’T NOMINATE ANY INDEPENDENT RAP ALBUMS LIKE SAIGON’S – ‘The Greatest Story Never Told’ or CORMEGA’S – ‘Born and Raised’ FOR ALBUMS OF THE YEAR…HOW IS IT THAT YOU CAN NOMINATE ROCK-N-ROLL INDEPENDENT ARTISTS AT THE GRAMMYS BUT YOU CAN’T NOMINATE RAP INDEPENDENT ARTISTS LIKE JOELL ORTIZ,JOE BUDDEN,CORMEGA,ETC. AT THE GRAMMYS? THE GRAMMYS WILL FOREVER BE FULL OF SHIT…DON’T KNOW WHY AND HOW IT’S STILL BEING TELEVISED…SINCE EVERYTHING IS NOW CHANGING IN THE WORLD, WHAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED IS TAKING THE FUCKIN’ GRAMMYS OFF OF CBS SO THAT IT NEVER GETS TELEVISED AGAIN AND IF PEOPLE WANT TO WATCH IT THEN THEY SHOULD AIR THAT BULLSHIT ON YOUTUBE INSTEAD OF TELEVISION…Like Meth said again – “FUCK THE GRAMMYS!!!”
meth has beeen that dude
he knew that hip hop became a commercial fuck hole of artist tryna conform to white culture so he didnt even bother. So now he’s an actor and devout Wu man. He been through the label bullshit with Def and everything way before it became widespread. Peace to METH
QFT. Seriously. Grammy’s arent the be all end all of what is good music. They grab a small handful of hip hop albums of which they probably have to sell at least a quarter million and than pick from there. I gaurentee 95% of Grammy voters never heard of Big K.R.I.T., J. Cole, or Curren$y. Shit they probably dont even know who Big Boi is, they might if hes lucky recognize him as “that outkast guy”. Big Boi had album of the year if you ask me and i can’t believe he aint mainstream enough to have gotten a nod at least. Fuck. That album was palatable for everyone. Club songs, Bangers, real shit, spacey fun goofy shit. Something for everyone and they were all done well.
WELCOME TO MY CRACKHOUSE….PUT THIS IN YOUR CRACK PIPE AND SMOKE IT
http://www.youtube.com/user/305ilovemia#p/a/u/0/pkYXTuFcdZI
Arcade fire deserved to win for two other albums , im a huge fan of arcade fire and hip hop and was shocked that they actually got recognition this year , dont act like its a big conspiracy just because one of the best bands of this generation finally won a grammy
Man fuck wat method man got to say cus his shows mostly consist of white ppl anyway….i aint never heard a nigga say im goin see method man….ima street nigga tho, most of yall is nerds so yall may think opposite but anyway if u just figurin out that the grammy’s, mtv awards, etc is set up from the beginning then u musta been under a rock like dat nigga on the geico commercial……thats why i didnt understand why kanye snapped with that beyonce n taylor swift shit. nigga that shit isnt really about the “best” artist or the “newcomer of the year” that shit is just one big publicity stunt. the person who deserves it will never win the shit. the only award where they actually take a real vote and a group of 10 white men dont decide is prolly the fuckin hesiman trophy…..and i still think larry fitzgerald shoulda won hands down a few years back….al dat shit set up bruh stop being so naive
*facepalm* please read a book and get an education, seriously your embarrassing yourself.
…so ur admitting strait up ur a racist?
fuck the grammys for not giving any recognition to Guru.
RIP Guru
A true legend.
.PUT THIS IN YOUR CRACK PIPE AND SMOKE IT
http://www.youtube.com/user/305ilovemia#p/a/u/0/pkYXTuFcdZI
@ anonymous
youre crazy if you thnk Em is more comparable to Bob Dylan than Lauryn. He’s dope but no way is he as gifted a writer as Dylan or L. Hill…. BTW Em is the one that is racist. He called his ex the n word ya know. Lauryn on the other hand has never said anything racist. Stop spreading false internet lies.
LAURYN HILL / NAS > EM / HOV
to compare eminem to bob dylan is crazy in general, bob dylan made music almost 50 years ago thats still relevant today, while eminem makes songs about gettin fucked by his stepdad…this dudes a jaggoff…and if anything the roots shouldnt got more props for how i got over…..
I understand the points that Steve Stoute put forward in his letter, but he’s wrong about the Arcade Fire win and I still agree that they deserved their award. Here’s why.
I used to host a college underground hip-hop radio show during the late 90s and early 2000s. In my opinion, there were some extremely talented artists producing great hip-hop music during that era; however, none of them were ever recognized on any award show I watched. That expectation should not even mean anything, for the simple fact that the people involved in the voting process of these shows just aren’t that culturally aware of artists not only outside of their genre, but across all echelons of their genre they claim to be experts in – I’m talking from mainstream to underground in hip-hop, alternative, etc…
This goes for all genres of music. So often if you listen to radio, it’s a horrible reflection of what mainstream musical taste is out there. And it should be pointed out that Arcade Fire is not a mainstream band, they’re an underground alternative band that has worked their way up to over 1 million in record sales. Are they the hottest selling artist or receiving heavy rotation on mainstream radio? Absolutely not. They are the indie alternative equivalent of say hip-hop’s The Roots.
Arcade Fire’s win sent a big message to people out there in North America, which was this… Take your heads out of your asses! There is fantastic music available in the world and it’s not necessarily on your radio or coming from your own country. The peers of those voters on the Grammys were probably schooled by “sponsors” of Arcade Fire. If you read online, you’ll know that it’s no secret that influential people like David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen have endorsed the band.
Steve Stoute has nothing to complain about, because no one in hip-hop at the executive level is “endorsing” or pulling their weight at the Grammys. If you want to see bands like The Roots get a proper accolade, send the right executives in and do as Jermaine Dupri said and get on the committee. If you want to see more artists with much more quality music like Gang Starr, Lupe Fiasco get an award, show up to the meetings and put your weight behind these artists.
I’m not made at the Grammys. I don’t watch the show because it’s incredibly boring. But I’ll never complain about their choices in awards, because they are doing what they’ve been asked. Are the executives in hip-hop from all parts of the country doing their part? From what we can see, the answer is no!